The Tattered Lands

by Barbara Ann Wright

  “When is the seneschal coming back?” Vandra asked.

  “It might be a while.” Lilani glanced behind her. “I wish you could come in.”

  “It’s all right,” Vandra said with a little chuckle, though she burned with impatience inside. She glanced at Fieta and Pietyr. Their captain had agreed to let them stay with Vandra, but that luck wouldn’t hold forever. Someone higher than the captain might take exception to their special duty, then they’d have to go back to work or risk losing their jobs.

  And if they were assigned to the seelie? That could be very bad for them.

  “Excuse me, Lilani,” Vandra said. “I need to talk to the twins.”

  “I’ll be here.”

  Vandra grinned at her then headed for Fieta and Pietyr. She tried to ignore the stares of the crowd. Not only were the residents of the restricted Garden District interested in the seelie, but people had wandered over from all corners of Parbeh. Guards at the district entrances tried to shoo away non-residents, but people still managed to slip in.

  Vandra put her arms on the twins’ shoulders and pulled them close. “Lilani is going to claim me as part of her retinue so we can work together. That’ll likely put me in conflict with a few people in the government and the university, maybe the city in general.”

  “And?” Pietyr asked when she didn’t continue.

  “So,” she said, “you should leave now before you’re also seen as pariahs.”

  “What?” Fieta asked. “Not a chance!”

  “You’re not safe on your own,” Pietyr said.

  Vandra shook them slightly. “Listen! If the Watch thinks you’re tied to the seelie, you could lose your jobs.”

  After a glance, they both said, “We’re staying.”

  Vandra rolled her eyes. Pietyr had been lucky the Watch accepted him with his gang tattoos. He might never find another job, and Fieta wouldn’t stay in the Watch if he left. She was aimless without him. “Your jobs are important to you. Don’t deny it.”

  They frowned, looking so similar in that moment. “This is important, too,” Pietyr said. “And not just because we love you.”

  “Yeah,” Fieta added. “You have to repair the pylon, and we have to watch your back. Someone in this great muddle has to be looking out for you, Van.”

  She wanted to hug them and hit them, but they were right. “I love you, too, dummies. But at least tell your captain and ask him to assign you to the seelie so it’s official.”

  Pietyr rubbed his chin. “Those are Palace Guard at the gate, not City Watch.”

  “But the Watch will want to be included,” Fieta said. “Especially since the seelie aren’t being housed in a government building. There might already be a squabble going on.”

  They looked at each other again. “You go,” they said at the same time. Both pulled back, frowning, before they said, “He likes you better.”

  “Oh, for the gods’ sake!” Vandra said. She lowered her voice and leaned in. “Fieta, pick even or odd.”

  “Even.”

  “You’re going,” Vandra nodded toward the edge of the crowd.

  Grumbling, Fieta took off at a sprint. Pietyr nudged Vandra’s shoulder. “You were going to make her go no matter what.”

  Vandra shrugged, but it was true. Lazy as she pretended to be, Fieta fidgeted too much if she had to wait. Pietyr was more content. They were often assigned together to balance each other out.

  Vandra didn’t go back to the gate, giving Lilani a friendly wave instead. Lilani faded back but hadn’t gone inside. The whole street seemed to be waiting. When the seneschal marched into sight, the Palace Guard around him, the crowd fell silent. He opened the gate to the seelie house, smiling when he saw Lilani waiting. He bowed with a flourish and offered her something. Lilani replied then nodded toward Vandra.

  Vandra nearly held her breath. The seneschal’s cheerful mask didn’t slip, but there was something predatory in his eyes as he looked at her. He said something to Lilani then walked from the yard, heading toward Vandra. Her heart hammered in her ears, and she told herself to be calm. She’d faced down the tattered lands, and this was just a man.

  Who held her future with Lilani in his hands.

  The seneschal stared at her. She wasn’t wearing her scholar’s robe or any sign of her status, but she had no doubt that he’d find out everything about her within the hour.

  “The seelie have requested your presence at their welcoming ball this evening.” He held something out, and she took it without thinking. Thick paper, it had handwriting so flowery and dense she could barely read it.

  “An invitation?” She squinted at it. “To a ball?” She blinked several times. With all the work that needed to be done, they were having a party?

  “Someone on my staff can tell you where to purchase suitable attire.”

  “Attire?” Confusion was tipping into anger. A pylon had failed, and the monarchs wanted to celebrate?

  “Attire means clothing,” he said slowly.

  She almost hit him, but Pietyr poked her sharply in the back. “She will be suitably attired,” he said with a small bow.

  The seneschal smiled graciously as if happy to finally be speaking to someone with brains.

  “And suitably guarded,” another voice said.

  Vandra turned to see the twins’ captain Killian, Fieta at his side. She sighed in relief. The seneschal stared at the captain, but before he could say anything, Killian stepped forward. “Since the seelie are guests of the city as well as the five monarchs,” Killian said, “I’m assigning these two to guard them as well as provide escort for Professor Singh.”

  The seneschal flushed, but his smile didn’t slip. She wondered if he coated his teeth in something that wouldn’t let his mouth close. He had to bow, but Vandra had no doubt the commander of the Palace Guard would be meeting with the commander of the City Watch soon enough. That was fine with Vandra. She wouldn’t be involved.

  When the seneschal marched away, one of his retinue, a young man with long, fair hair, stopped in front of Vandra. “Begging your pardon, Professor,” he said. “Would you like me to show you some shops as the seneschal suggested, or do you have yourself well in hand?”

  His smile seemed genuine, and he offered help instead of demanding, so Vandra’s temper cooled a bit. And now that she was thinking, she realized that neither she nor anyone in her family had anything suitable for a ball at the palace.

  “I don’t suppose I can wear my scholar’s robe?” she asked quietly.

  The servant frowned in sympathy. “I’m sure we can find something that conveys the dignity of your office and nods to the pageantry of the evening. And since you’re part of the special party,” he glanced at the seelie, “there will be a substantial discount.”

  Well, she was happy he brought it up instead of making her say it. She sighed. While there was a crisis, she was going to go shopping rather than meet with other alchemists and the seelie to keep humanity alive. From the gate, Lilani nodded, smiling happily. Vandra nodded back. At least seeing Lilani was something to look forward to.

  Chapter Thirteen

  And now Lilani had a ball to go to, which sounded like quite a spectacle, if the flowery invitation was to be believed. Strange that the monarchs didn’t want to talk about the pylons right away, but perhaps this celebration was part of their customs, and the conversation would come after the dance.

  Faelyn took the invitation and turned it over. “It even smells nice. We better put on our best.”

  “Are you talking about clothing or fake expressions of happiness?”

  He gave her a relaxed, blissful, completely artificial smile. “Both.”

  She chuckled and went upstairs to change into a coat of deep indigo. After brushing out her hair, she piled it on top of her head, leaving some curls to cascade around her ears and neck. Her magic shifted them around, but she’d be surprised if any of the humans noticed. Even if they did, they’d have to get used to the magical field that surrounded
all seelie sooner or later.

  Faelyn switched to a bright green frock coat and braided his hair tightly, tucking the tail under the rest. They both decided on a little jewelry; no doubt the humans would be decked out in full finery. Faelyn chose silver cuffs that curled over the entire length of the ear. Lilani dangled gold ornaments from the pointed tips of her ears. Metallic thread chased through her coat and Faelyn’s, and their guards’ armor was once again polished to an almost metallic shine.

  The two guards posing as attendants, Maegwyn and Burani, would stay in the house, watching for intruders, though Maegwyn didn’t seem pleased to be left behind. By her scowl, Lilani bet she lamented volunteering to be an attendant.

  “We’ll bring you some sweets,” Lilani promised. “Or whatever they have during a celebration.”

  Maegwyn gave her a grateful smile. Burani only snorted a laugh.

  Then all Lilani had to do was wait for their escort. Vandra would be part of it, thank the elders. When lanterns paused at the gate at dusk, Lilani nearly ran up the path, anxious to greet Vandra without a barrier between them.

  Lilani took a sharp breath as she reached the gate, her eyes pinned on the vision before her. Vandra wore a crimson skirt embroidered in gold thread. It flared when she turned, displaying depths of sparkling decoration. The neckline of the tunic dipped low, and the hem didn’t quite meet the skirt, revealing tantalizing glimpses of flesh. Embroidery covered the scarf that hung backwards across Vandra’s throat. Sparkling with clips of bronze and copper, her thick dark hair had been pinned behind her head, the longest pieces left to cascade down her back.

  Her dark eyes widened as she looked Lilani up and down, and Lilani couldn’t hide her grin. Vandra’s siblings stood behind her, dressed in similar costume, though with plainer designs, no scarf, full shirts with higher necks, and simple, flaring skirts that only reached their knees. They also carried daggers at their hips, and she supposed the flared skirt would be easier to fight in if it came to that.

  By the elders, Lilani hoped it wouldn’t.

  When the seneschal Wurabi opened the gate, bowing, Lilani hurried past and went to Vandra with her hands outstretched. Vandra took them, and they didn’t speak for several moments, grinning at each other like fools.

  Faelyn cleared his throat. Lilani tore her eyes off Vandra and looked to her siblings. “Fieta, Pietyr, nice to see you again.”

  They smiled, Pietyr’s more welcoming than Fieta’s, but both seemed happy enough. Lilani turned. “This is Faelyn, my advisor. My guards Lucian, Alonse, Carisse, and Selgwyn.”

  The guards inclined their heads, and Vandra and her siblings followed suit before saying hello.

  Lilani shook her head. “Not all of them speak the human tongue, I’m afraid.” She turned so that her gaze included Wurabi, too. “Only Faelyn and I are fluent.”

  Wurabi bowed and gestured ahead. “Shall we?”

  The seelie guards surrounded Lilani, Faelyn, Vandra, and the twins in a loose circle, and the human guards, headed by Wurabi, spread around them all. Lilani tried not to think of them as a wall, trapping her in. It was enough to make her long for home.

  If it didn’t have a murderer in it.

  Lilani leaned toward Vandra, anxious for a change of thought. “I’m counting on you to tell me how to behave at this ball.”

  Vandra snorted. “You’re out of luck. I’ve never been to one.”

  Lilani frowned. “It’s not a human custom? The party before the serious conversation?”

  “Ha!” Vandra covered her mouth and lowered her voice. “It seems like typical human foot-dragging if you ask me. All anyone ever wants to do is talk.”

  Lilani sighed. “That’s a seelie problem, too.” But the humans couldn’t carry on the same argument for hundreds of years. She touched the scarf that fluttered behind Vandra. It was as soft as she imagined. “But I’m grateful for any occasion that lets me see you in this.”

  Vandra ducked her head, and Lilani bet her cheeks were burning. “You look lovely, too. I’m so glad to finally be spending time with you.”

  Lilani took Vandra’s hand, wanting to forget the pylons and the politics for a little while and simply stroll with her crush. Vandra’s smile sparkled like a star, and Lilani wondered if her lips would be as soft as her scarf.

  Lilani’s magic pulsed within her, and she concentrated to make it behave.

  Soon, Vandra pointed out a rectangular building with four massive towers. “We’re close to the center of Parbeh. The tower on the left is above the Assembly House, next to that is the treasury, then the Courts of Law, and the farthest right is where we’re going: the Monarchs’ Seat.”

  “And the assembly rules all of Citran?” Lilani asked.

  “With the five monarchs.”

  Lilani frowned. Her mother ruled the seelie alone, but maybe the humans needed many rulers because there were so many of them. “Are there five monarchs because there were five human kingdoms before the tattered lands consumed them?”

  “There were seven,” Vandra said. “Two are…not around anymore.” She shook her head as if the idea of two entire kingdoms being wiped out was more than she could utter.

  Lilani squeezed her hand, her heart aching for all the dead. “Very gracious of the monarch of Citran to welcome the other rulers as equals.”

  Vandra gave her a sidelong look. “Well, Citran is full to bursting with humans from those kingdoms, enough to overpower us if they wanted. Best if they have someone looking out for their interests, though some people are still upset that they don’t have their own kingdoms anymore.”

  “I see.” How long had the humans debated before they settled on a plan that wouldn’t rob refugees of their leadership while maintaining the rights of the humans who’d lived in this land first? And even after they’d made decisions, some still weren’t happy. That was also a seelie problem. “And as an alchemist, you work with the assembly?”

  “I work for the university.” She pointed, but it was too dark to see far. “It’s in that direction, a place of teaching and learning. Mostly alchemists, engineers, and scholars.”

  Faelyn stuck his head between them. “You teach?”

  Lilani chuckled. “If you’re a teacher like Faelyn, you’ve made a friend for life.”

  Vandra grinned. “I teach a little. Mostly, I study and experiment. The great library of Parbeh is also at the university.”

  Lilani’s heart fluttered. “All the human knowledge is there?”

  “Well, all that wasn’t lost to the tattered lands.”

  Lilani sighed. “Yes, many books were left behind when my people fled, too.”

  Vandra bit her lip, and the next words burst out as if she couldn’t contain them. “Why didn’t the seelie stay where they were? They can hide from the tattered lands, right?”

  Lilani shivered at the thought of living within that cloud of dread. “We can hide from the creatures, and our magic protects us from the taint, from being corrupted, but the feeling of the tattered lands…unnerves us. We don’t like to be near it.”

  Vandra brightened. “But with your magic, your people could mount expeditions to their former homes? You could retrieve your lost books as well as…anything else.” She ducked her head, and Lilani knew what she was thinking. If the seelie could get their own books, they might be able to rescue the humans’ as well.

  “Let’s save that until after this current crisis,” Lilani said. “The decision wouldn’t be up to me, anyway.”

  When they reached the entrance to the Monarchs’ Seat, Lilani gave Vandra’s hand a final squeeze before letting go. From a distance, the walls had seemed solid and bare, but they were actually carved from street to ceiling with statues and frescoes. Lilani wished she could linger, but Wurabi kept them moving to a set of iron-studded wooden doors which stood open to admit a throng of people.

  The human guards cleared the way to the front, and the partygoers stared at the seelie, covering their mouths with fans as they whispered to their nei
ghbors. The dress varied wildly: dresses and trousers and skirts of all colors and lengths. Lilani supposed it was a sign of each land the humans originally hailed from. It might be several generations before everyone fully assimilated. The seelie had never had very separate cultures, another product of their long lives. They changed only slowly, old ideas replaced at a glacial pace. Her frock coat had been her mother’s and probably her grandfather’s, but the stitching had changed as fashion evolved. She took comfort in that sort of repurposing, as if she carried a bit of history on her back.

  Inside the doors, strains of music came from a raised platform, but the notes were nearly lost in the noise of conversation. People spun and swayed in a dance, pairs breaking off to dance in circles of six or ten before separating into pairs again. The moving mix of color, the swells of noise, and the gusts of perfume nearly overwhelmed the senses.

  Those nearest the doors caught sight of the seelie and stumbled. Word spread through the room more quickly than fire, and soon a path cleared between the seelie and another raised platform that held a long table and a handful of ornate chairs. As the guards escorted Lilani’s party forward, the five people on the platform stood, gathering in front of the table for a closer look.

  The five monarchs. At last. Lilani’s heart lifted. At the moment, any step in the right direction seemed like a leap.

  The hall had gone quiet. Wurabi halted on the first step of the dais and spoke loudly. “Esteemed monarchs of the five kingdoms, protectors of this, our human race, I present, Lilani, representative of the seelie Court.”

  Lilani bowed her head, her shoulders following a little. As Faelyn told her, the seelie were not subjects of this monarchy and did not owe it fealty, but she wanted to be polite. After what Vandra had said about not telling anyone she was the daughter of the empress, she didn’t want the monarchs to think she held the same rank as them.